A confident San Antonio State Senator Carlos Uresti is predicting that he'll be acquitted of federal fraud charges, Newsradio 1200 WOAI reports.
"My lawyers did a great job of pointing out the inconsistencies and the weaknesses in the government's case," he said, leaving the courthouse, after more than a month of testimony that included former co-workers at FourWinds Logistics and the investors who pumped millions into the now-bankrupt fracking company.
Senator Uresti (D-SA) says he feels good that, after the jury comes to a verdict, he'll be walking out again a free man.
"I'm convinced that this jury is going to come back, with the Lord's help, and find me innocent of these charges, like I told you all a year ago was going to happen."
The federal trial was anything but quick, and it's expected that it will take days for the jury to decide a verdict.
In their closing arguments, defense attorney Michael McCrum pushed much of the blame for Fourwinds bankruptcy to the former CEO, Stan Bates, who pled guilty before the trial began. He says Sen. Uresti was fed the same lies as the investors, who lost millions.
“When he did know, he did two things. He got a lawyer for Denise Cantu to sue and the second step was to go to the FBI," McCrum told the jury.
He said that Sen. Uresti had a good faith belief that a plan to sell sand to fracking companies would eventually work out.
But in their closing arguments, United States Attorneys argued that Sen. Uresti knew exactly what was going on, and still pushed investors to pump millions into the country as a way to pay for his $2 million mansion and pay for a pricey Porsche roadster.
“Mr. Uresti is here for his own lies, his own deceit, his own half-truths,” AUSA Joseph Blackwell pleaded.
He told the jury that, whether Fourwinds was run good or bad, Sen. Uresti still made money.
“Maybe he thought it would all work out in the end. That is not a defense”